In Washington, it is getting more difficult to avoid President Donald Trump. His face and name are popping up on buildings across the US capital.
On both the US Department of Justice and the Department of Labour, Mr Trump glares down at passers-by from outside supposedly non-partisan federal agencies.
His name is now emblazoned across the former US Institute of Peace, which has been named after him after he closed it last year then rebranded it. And about 15 per cent of the White House lies in rubble as an impatient Mr Trump rushes to realise his vision of a kitsch new ballroom.
Timothy Kneeland, a political scientist and public policy historian at Nazareth University in western New York, said that although Mr Trump's supporters argue that images of presidents often appear on buildings and US cash, such tributes usually come after the leader has left office or has died.
As a private citizen, Mr Trump the salesman was never shy about slapping his name or image on his many products and buildings. But, as Mr Kneeland notes, it is jarring for many Americans to see him continue to market himself while he is President – especially in Washington, where he won 6 per cent of votes in the 2024 election.
“Imprinting your name or your face on buildings and coins was exactly the kind of thing the kings and queens of England did to remind people that they were subjects and not equals with the royals and aristocrats,” Mr Kneeland said, explaining why the first US President, George Washington, initially scoffed at the idea of naming anything after himself or placing his image in prominent areas.
“We [the US] were founded by a people deeply suspicious of royalty and elitism, that carried on through the years and we expected our presidents to be our servants, not our masters,” he said, adding that the pace of change Mr Trump is putting his name on buildings was “breathtaking”.
Undeterred by critics, the US Treasury Department, at the urging of the White House, is seeking to put Mr Trump's image on a new $250 bill.
Mr Kneeland said there are only a few examples of similar stunts, such as the US Secretary of the Interior naming the Hoover Dam after president Herbert Hoover in 1930, and the US Mint Bureau issuing a coin with then-president Calvin Coolidge's face on one side and George Washington's on another to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the US.
But Mr Trump has been far more aggressive in placing his image and name throughout Washington.
“It would have previously been thought of as unseemly for any president to crave that kind of attention,” Mr Kneeland added.
Mr Trump's makeover of Washington has been met with some resistance.
After the White House announced in February that it would rename the John F Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts as the Trump Kennedy Centre, quickly adding Mr Trump's name to the famous venue, a legal battle ensued.
A federal judge ordered his name be removed from the building and that all references to it be removed from Kennedy Centre signs and marketing material.
Mr Trump complained about the judge's decision in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
“A Barack Hussein Obama Judge named Christopher Cooper has stopped a magnificent structural and aesthetic rebuilding of The Trump Kennedy Centre,” he wrote.
Other attempts to place Mr Trump's name on federal facilities, however, have succeeded.
After Mr Trump signed an executive order that essentially shut down and fired workers at the US Institute of Peace in 2025, Mr Trump's name was placed on the institute's building on Constitution Avenue.
The largely empty building now goes by the name, the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace.
During a February speech, he denied his name was being adding to the building at his request.
“Marco named it after me,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The 47th US President also generated controversy last year when he unveiled plans for a Napoleonic arch at the entrance to Washington. It was quickly dubbed the “Arc de Trump” and would feature golden statues.
Last week, Mr Trump said he wanted to build a promenade behind the Lincoln Memorial, adding that “they want to call it the Trump Promenade”. He did not say who “they” may be.
Meanwhile, as the US prepares for its 250th anniversary on July 4, Mr Trump refurbished the famous reflecting pool that stretches out from the Lincoln Memorial and painted it “American flag blue”.
Critics questioned aspects of what some saw as a rushed project that did not go through congressional approvals or a competitive bidding process.
Last week, Mr Trump held up a chart titled “our pool is bigger than skyscrapers”, and boasted that the construction was complete.
Some of his moves are less contentious: recent repairs made to dozens of fountains in Washington's parks were expedited under his administration, including an area known as Malcolm X Park.
But the President has also sparked controversy after he ordered the construction of a UFC fight ring and stadium seating outside the White House for an event.
Perhaps the most polarising move was his ordering of the destruction of the White House's East Wing to make way for a ballroom.
Wrecking balls demolished the historic structure and Mr Trump did not seek congressional approval, appalling preservationists and prompting several lawsuits. He said his idea for a ballroom was “bold” and “necessary.”
Some of the funding for the $300 million-to-$400 million project came from private donations from corporate executives, many of whom have since won federal contracts worth more than $50 billion total, according to the Public Citizen non-profit watchdog.
As for the continuing litigation, Mr Trump does not mince words.
“This should not even be a case, and it is highly damaging to our country,” he wrote on Truth Social.
